Monday, 11 January 2010

Spinning Classes - Manchester Velodrome

Tonight I went along to the Manchester Velodrome to join one of their - recently introduced - spinning classes on the brilliant Wattbikes to give my training a bit of variety. I'm glad I went along, it was nice to have a change of scene and to have someone else defining your workout for you. In a 47 minute session tonight, we averaged 19.93mph and covered a distance of just shy of 16 miles with a good mix of in/out of saddle positions and pretend climbs. What I like about the Wattbike is that it has a pretty close riding position to a roadbike. You can clip into it with SPD cleats, you can adjust absolutely everything and it's got a decent handlebar configuration which made the session pretty comfortable in terms of ride position. The workout was a good intensity and there was a good mix of people there. The class is definitely intermediate, that is, you need to have some base fitness to get the most from it. I surprised myself by getting through all of it without any drama and at peak was pushing 496W of power, climbing a pretend hill. I'll be going again. During January they are doing 2 for the price of 1, so it's worth going along. Make sure you take a towel, cool clothing and fluids.